The Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation has received an award of up to $19.8 million from ARPA-H to lead a multi-institution program developing transplantable, immune-compatible liver tissue.
The project, called PROMETHEUS, is part of ARPA-H’s PRINT program and is led by Dr. Xiling Shen, Acting Director and Principal Investigator at the Terasaki Institute.
The program is targeting two major limitations in liver transplantation: the shortage of donor organs and the need for long-term immunosuppression.
PROMETHEUS will combine hypoimmunogenic induced pluripotent stem cells, scalable cell manufacturing, bioreactor culture, vascularization and bioprinting to produce functional liver tissue intended for transplantation.
A central element of the project is the development of a universal cell source that could potentially be used across patients without traditional donor matching. Pluristyx is supplying engineered iPSC lines designed for large-scale manufacturing and reduced immune recognition.
Researchers at the Terasaki Institute will work on the printed tissue architecture, perfusion and cell-manufacturing processes. Additional collaborators include Weill Cornell Medicine, Penn State, UCLA, Washington University in St. Louis, Technion and Rice University.
The team will also evaluate whether the engineered tissue can successfully engraft and function following transplantation. UCLA researchers will assess parameters including tissue function, regeneration and long-term integration in preclinical models.
The project highlights the scale of the technical challenge involved in engineered organ replacement. Producing liver tissue requires more than generating the correct cell types: the tissue must be manufactured at sufficient scale, vascularized to receive oxygen and nutrients, remain functional after implantation and avoid destructive immune responses.
If successful, PROMETHEUS could provide a donor-independent approach to liver replacement and reduce reliance on lifelong immunosuppressive therapy.
The program also continues the Terasaki Institute’s long-standing focus on transplantation science. Its founder, Dr. Paul Terasaki, developed technologies for donor-recipient compatibility testing that became foundational to modern organ transplantation.
PROMETHEUS now applies that legacy to a different question: whether future transplant tissue can be engineered in advance rather than sourced from a matched donor.
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